New on View: This painting by Domenico Beccafumi was recently installed in our East Gallery. It is probably a fragment of a full-length figure of the Roman heroine Lucretia, it has been cut down on all sides.
The ancient historian Livy originally told the story of Lucretia, wife of a Roman nobleman, who was violated by a son of the Etruscan king. Shamed by the loss of her honor, Lucretia killed herself, but not before calling on her husband, father, and brothers to avenge her. The result was the expulsion of the kings from Rome and the establishment of the Republic.
This work is being exhibited In conjunction with Oberlin College’s Opera Theater production of Benjamin Britten’s chamber opera “The Rape of Lucretia.”
Image:
Domenico Beccafumi (Italian, 1484–1551)
Lucretia, ca. 1515-18
Oil on panel
Gift of the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, 1961.82
